John Ingles provides an overview of the key things to note on Sunday.
Alpha female
The fillies’ maiden (13:10) that opens Irish Derby Day used to be run on the Friday evening of this meeting but there’s no doubt it deserves its new place on a higher profile card. This race has a remarkable record of throwing up future Group 1 winners, largely due to ‘Hot Trainer’ Aidan O’Brien often targeting this contest with some of his best fillies. O’Brien has won the last four renewals, with last year’s winner Composing going on to Group 2 success later in the season, but several of Ballydoyle’s runners have struck at a higher level still, including other recent winners Ylang Ylang and Lake Victoria.
O’Brien has three fillies in this year’s field, including newcomer Exceptionally who stands on pedigree as a half-sister to Derby winner City of Troy, but while she might be one for the longer term, her stablemates Alpha and Ibelieveicanfly are the pair to concentrate on. Both made their debuts at Leopardstown earlier in the month when they were sent off the 2/1 joint favourites and finished second and fourth respectively to the Joseph O’Brien newcomer Blonde Over Blue.
Alpha, by Sea The Stars out of high-class miler Alpha Centauri, shaped particularly well in finishing three quarters of a length behind the winner, earning the Timeform ‘large P’ on her rating as well as the ‘Horse In Focus’ and ‘Sectional Timing’ flags. Forced wide over a furlong out, she finished well to split a pair who raced much closer to the pace in a contest where it paid to be handy. Wayne Lordan rode her on that occasion, but Ryan Moore prefers her over Ibelieveicanfly this time, and she can get off the mark before going on to bigger things.
Big Gossey going for tenth Curragh win
Heading the weights in the listed Dash Stakes at the Curragh (14:10) over six furlongs is Charles O’Brien’s stalwart Big Gossey who is also the senior runner in the race at the age of nine. But while he might be getting on in years, he’s as tough as old boots – he ran 17 times last year – and showed on his latest start that he’s still capable of smart form.
The likeable grey is a regular at the Curragh and landed his first win at the track in a handicap for three-year-olds at this meeting in 2020. Big Gossey has now gained nine of his eleven career wins at the Curragh, with his latest success coming in the Gladness Stakes in March. All eyes were on three-year-old Albert Einstein that day, but while he struggled in the mud, Big Gossey made the best of his way home at odds of 25/1 to win the listed contest for the second year running.
Back under firmer conditions, Big Gossey acquitted himself very well in a higher grade on his latest start when runner-up in the Group 2 Greenlands Stakes over today’s course and distance. Sent off at 18/1, he outran his odds again by staying on to finish two lengths second to favourite Comanche Brave who’d taken on the world’s top sprinter Ka Ying Rising in Hong Kong on his previous start. Back down in grade, Big Gossey heads the Timeform weight-adjusted ratings and has to be taken seriously.
Epsom form put to the test on different ground
It’s no surprise that conditions are forecast to be on the firm side at the Curragh which is a far cry from the soft ground that prevailed on a wet Derby Day at Epsom earlier in the month. Along with James J Braddock who finished third for Joseph O’Brien in the Derby, Aidan O’Brien runs all four of his colts in the Irish Derby (16:35) who ran at Epsom, among whom Christmas Day fared much the best, clearly appreciating the stiffer test of stamina provided by the combination of the longer trip and soft going and showing improved form, having earlier won the Ballysax Stakes under similar conditions.
But as much as the soft ground suited Christmas Day at Epsom, it also seemed to very much hinder the chances of the supposed Ballydoyle number one Benvenuto Cellini who finished well down the field before being officially declared a non-runner. That was due to the incident in the stalls where he had a hind leg on the running board when the gates opened, but it was surely the ground that was the main factor in Benvenuto Cellini underperforming.
After all, he hadn’t been at his best in the mud in the Futurity Trophy at Doncaster on his final start at two. But he’d looked every inch a potential Derby winner on good to firm ground on his reappearance in the Chester Vase when making the most of a straightforward task but doing so impressively in a well-run race. It looks significant that Ryan Moore has remained loyal to Benvenuto Cellini despite his Epsom reverse, and the son of Frankel can become his trainer’s 18th Irish Derby winner, with Sandown’s Classic Trial winner Raaheeb potentially more of a threat this time than Christmas Day under these conditions.
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